BMJ, doi: 10.1136/bmj.39577.589699.BE, (Published 16 June 2008)

Editorials

Risk factors for gastroschisis

Genitourinary infection in early pregnancy can be added to the existing list

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Gastroschisis is a small abdominal fissure lateral to an intact umbilical cord, generally to the right. The bowel herniates throughout the fissure and is not covered by membrane. Unlike most other birth defects, reported rates of gastroschisis have increased over the past 25 years from 0.1-1.0 per 10 000 births to 3.0-5.0 per 10 000 births in many developed and developing countries, with the notable exception of Italy, where rates have remained stable at under 1.0 per 10 000.^{1 2 3} In the linked research paper, Feldkamp and colleagues assess whether genitourinary infections increased the risk for gastroschisis in participants in the national birth defects prevention study (NBDPS).⁴

Research on risk factors has previously been hampered by the relative rarity of the defect and by unclear case definition. For example, the ICD-9 (international classification of diseases, 9th revision) coding system combined omphalocele and gastroschisis under a single code (756.7). Moreover, the pathogenesis . . . [Full text of this article]

¹ Centre of the International Clearinghouse for Birth Defects Surveillance and Research, 00195 Rome, Italy

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This article has been cited by other articles:

• Elliott, L., Loomis, D., Lottritz, L., Slotnick, R. N., Oki, E., Todd, R. (2009). Case-control Study of a Gastroschisis Cluster in Nevada. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 163: 1000-1006 [Abstract] [Full text]  

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